


Birthdays

by honestgrins



Series: Challenge Accepted [15]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 07:03:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5575861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 15 - Growing Up: Milestones are important, and Caroline's lucky to have the Mikaelsons around to celebrate hers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthdays

_When she turned 10, her dad had already left._

Klaus looked at the clock and groaned. At 16 years old, he shouldn't have been exhausted by 8 p.m. His mother had left him in charge of the younger kids, though, and their energy never ran out. Henrik and Kol were already put to bed, but Klaus knew the girls would be up a little longer. He could hear the pop music coming from Rebekah's room.

Determined to enjoy whatever part of the weekend he could salvage, Klaus decided to play video games in the TV room for the rest of the night. He barely noticed the time passing until he heard tiny sniffles coming from the hallway. Pausing the game, he waited for whichever sibling had woken up.

Instead, Caroline turned the corner, twirling her blonde pigtail around a finger and wiping her red-rimmed eyes.

"It's nearly midnight, Caroline," Klaus said gently, startling the poor girl. "What's wrong?"

As comfortable with Klaus as his own sister, Caroline climbed onto the couch and settled in next to him. "It's almost my birthday," she whispered. "I didn't want to sleep in case Mommy came to pick me up. She promised to spend the whole day with me."

Klaus sighed, tucking his arm around the little girl's shoulders. "I think she meant tomorrow once you woke up," he said, knowing that still wouldn't happen. Caroline spent more time at the Mikaelson house than her own because her mother's job was so demanding. "You have to sleep before you get there."

"But what if she doesn't come back," Caroline asked, her lip wobbling in fear.

Bill Forbes had left the town in scandal just a month ago, so Klaus was familiar with Caroline's worry. "She will," he promised, reminding himself to tell his mother about this. "But since it's your birthday in," he looked to the clock, "two minutes, how about a little treat before you go back to bed?"

"Seriously?!"

Klaus shushed her for fear of waking up the others before nodding. "Come on," he whispered. He took her hand and led her to the kitchen, where he made them both mugs of hot chocolate, only topping hers with some whipped cream.

"Happy birthday, Caroline," he said, chuckling at the whipped cream covering her wide grin. At least she wasn't crying anymore.

_When she turned 16, Tyler had asked her out._

Klaus was waiting in the car, annoyed that Rebekah was taking so long to collect Caroline. He had already agreed to be their designated driver for the Lockwood party, calling it Caroline's birthday present. He was annoyed enough to be stuck at home for the long weekend, but at least this got him out of the house.

He looked up at the mansion still swarming with unsupervised teenagers in various states of drunkenness. Worried that Caroline might be worse off than Rebekah could handle by herself, Klaus was about to go searching when two blondes happily bounced toward his car.

"Hi, Nik," Rebekah crowed, only slurring a little bit.

"Thanks for driving, Klaus," Caroline said brightly, looking decidedly more sober than he expected.

"You all look happy," he said drily, waiting for them to buckle up. "Good party?"

"I don't know Caroline, did you have fun?" Rebekah's voice was sly and knowing, putting Klaus on edge. He knew what happened at parties, and he didn't like the idea of the girls participating in…activities.

Caroline just grinned shyly in the backseat. "I did," she answered.

Rebekah leaned over the console into Klaus's space, practically yelling into his ear. "Tyler asked her out," she cried. "Caroline has a date for her birthday tomorrow!"

Klaus looked back to the blonde biting her lip. "Congratulations?"

Caroline just scoffed, annoyance taking away some of her joyful expression. "I don't know what your problem is with Tyler, but I'm excited," she said. "It's not like I have anything else to do tomorrow."

Both Klaus and Rebekah cringed at the reminder her mother would be working for her birthday again. "My problem isn't with Tyler, but he's too much like his cousin Mason," he explained instead. "Just be careful."

While the girls squealed about how exactly Tyler asked, Klaus tried to shrug off the protectiveness he felt. She was just his kid sister's best friend, and he didn't want her to get hurt. Nothing questionable about that at all.

_When she turned 18, Rebekah hated her._

Klaus's apartment wasn't really big enough for visitors, but that never stopped Rebekah from making whatever excuses she could to stay the night. It was pretty inconvenient to live within an hour of Mystic Falls. He was close to work in Richmond, but he was still too close to home. The one good thing about Rebekah's habit was that she always called first.

Well, almost always.

"What are you doing here," Klaus asked, finding an annoyed Rebekah at his doorstep. "Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not okay," Rebekah said, stomping her way into the apartment. "Caroline invited Stefan to her birthday party, despite my strict instructions otherwise."

Klaus just rolled his eyes before going back to his sketching. At 24, he was over dealing with Rebekah's petty squabbles. "It was her party, Bekah, and Stefan is your friend, too."

"He was my friend until his brother treated Caroline like shit," Rebekah yelled. "I don't understand how she can forgive him, let alone welcome him into her house."

Shaking his head, Klaus tried to process the information. He could point out that Stefan isn't his brother, but he preferred to focus on the more concerning issue. "What did Damon do to Caroline?"

Rebekah scoffed, "Like you don't know." Seeing his dumbfounded face, though, Rebekah blanched. "I thought Kol told you. He told everyone else."

"Told me what," Klaus seethed, unsure why rage was building so quickly inside him. Damn that protectiveness again.

A knock on the door distracted Rebekah from answering, and Klaus was still frustrated when he ripped open the door. He calmed immediately when he found an annoyed Caroline on the other side. "Is she here?"

"Did you really just drive an hour to yell at me," Rebekah asked snidely.

"Did you really just drive an hour to skip the party you helped to plan," Caroline retorted. "Seriously, Bex, it's nuts to punish Stefan. I'm over it."

"No, you're not," Rebekah yelled. "You still can't look at Elena without crying."

"Will someone please tell me what happened," Klaus broke in, scared at the big dark secret of what Damon Salvatore did to Caroline. He knew it was silly to feel left out of high school drama, but Caroline was basically family.

Sighing, Caroline crossed her arms tightly around her middle. "He cheated on me," she admitted. "I walked in on him with Elena months ago, and Bekah still insists on punishing Stefan."

"Because the arse defended the arsehole brother, and he still looks at Elena with those moony eyes because he hasn't realized how completely oafish his attempts at wooing her have been," Rebekah ranted.

"Meaning he needs our help more than anyone," Caroline pointed out. "You don't really want to leave him with only Damon and Elena to talk to, do you?"

Klaus just watched the girls argue, relaxing that he had overestimated Damon's threat to Caroline. True, cheating was a low blow, especially for the blonde to have witnessed it first hand. "I think," he interjected, causing the girls to glare at him, "that you're both here now. Why not have a do-over celebration without any other problematic friends?"

"You don't have to," Caroline said with a weak smile. "I'm sorry we barged in."

"It's no trouble, love," he insisted. "I was just enjoying a night in, so I'll be glad for the company. You two can take my bedroom and I'll sleep out here."

"Thank you, Nik," Rebekah said, finally loosening up with her anger. "Can we raid your kitchen for a real party?"

Shaking his head, Klaus answered, "The food is yours for the taking, but stay away from the booze. Not only will you not appreciate it, I'm not being held responsible for your lushy habits."

That earned him a giggle from Caroline, which Klaus didn't feel proud of at all. He was a grown man with his own life; he was just happy to be done with the immature fight.

_When she turned 22, Klaus forgot._

Klaus was stuck really late at work again, and the niggling feeling that he was missing something unsettled him. His boss had kept him super busy for at least a month now, and Klaus's eyes hurt from staring at his computer screen. He considered calling Caroline, but he knew she had an early class the next morning. The apartment was just up the road from him, making the urge to slip into bed with her all the more tempting.

Rebekah had all but mutinied when Caroline chose to attend a university in California, refusing to allow her friend to move so far away. Though modern technology made attending college in different states much easier for them, Rebekah still worried that Caroline would be all alone. When Klaus was offered a job in the same city, she encouraged him to take the opportunity and keep an eye on her friend.

That plan stupendously misfired when they started dating later Caroline's freshman year.

Caroline had been so focused on settling and making friends that she never realized how much she had come to rely on Klaus as a support system. He was always there to help with her homework and to go grocery shopping with. She helped him decorate his apartment, and he constantly talked her out of adopting pets.

It wasn't until Rebekah pointed out she never mentioned boys that Caroline realized why she sucked at the dating game. She wanted to date Klaus.

He didn't even notice the first time she asked him out. Klaus thought they were just trying the new Mexican restaurant like they did any other in the neighborhood. Thoroughly embarrassed and overdressed, Caroline faked sick halfway through and went back home.

The next day, Klaus brought a not-at-all-sick Caroline chicken soup and crackers. He had stroked the hair out of her face, making sure she was okay, when her control snapped. She kissed him hard. Once he realized she wasn't actually ill, he enthusiastically reciprocated.

More than three years later, and they were still together.

Looking at his watch, Klaus saw the time strike midnight and change the date on his phone. "Bloody hell," he cried out, rushing to pack up his things.

When he finally made it to the apartment they shared, he found her asleep on their bed. Her lingerie was rumpled and the champagne bucket was sweating all over the night table. Sitting next to her, Klaus did his best to wrangle the blankets around her slumbering form.

"Klaus," she grumbled, stirring a bit. "Is it midnight?"

"About twelve-thirty, love," he answered, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I forgot tonight's tradition until I saw the date. Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"S'okay," she sighed, falling back asleep. "You can owe me half an hour tomorrow night. I love you."

"I love you, too," he whispered. Klaus smiled, stroking her hair until her light snore came back. He cleaned up the champagne bucket mess, putting the bottle back in the fridge. They would call in sick and celebrate with a champagne breakfast instead.

_When she turned 25, she was ready for her happily ever after._

Klaus was horrified at the scene in front of him.

"I didn't mean to," Caroline swore, guilt written all over her face.

He had found her in their closet, staring at the open velvet box she had dug out from underneath the bottom drawer.

"How did you even find it," he asked, trying to contain his annoyance (and reluctant amusement) at the ruined surprise.

Caroline shuffled, looking down at the ring still. "I…dropped something."

"You were looking for your birthday present," he accused, finally laughing at their ridiculous situation.

"This isn't it, right?" Caroline may have felt bad that she accidentally found the ring, but that didn't mean he was only allowed to propose for her birthday.

"No, love," Klaus assured her, pulling the box out of her hands. "This was for the family dinner next month, because Rebekah promised to throttle me if she missed your reaction."

The breath left Caroline as he knelt down on one knee anyway.

"I always want to be there for you, just like you're always there for me," he said seriously. "I want to celebrate all your birthdays. Will you marry me?"

Nodding, Caroline just fell onto him, wrapping him in a hug. "Of course I will," she sniffled. "I love you." She kissed him lovingly, only to jump up right away.

"The birthday champagne became engagement champagne," she called from the kitchen. "So we're definitely having two bottles!"


End file.
